Martin Brundle believes Lewis Hamilton’s “sarcastic” radio messages to his Ferrari team in Miami indicate “how upset” the British F1 driver is with his current lack of performance.
Hamilton, 40, moved to Ferrari amid much fanfare in the off-season after 12 years and six world championships with Mercedes, but has endured a disappointing opening six races of the 2025 season.
At the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton was frustrated at how long Ferrari allowed him to pass slower teammate Charles Leclerc ahead, commenting at one point: “Have a tea break while you’re at it, come on!”
Hamilton also said it was “not good teamwork.” The Brit was eventually allowed through, but after failing to make any headway, Leclerc overtook him towards the end of the race. Hamilton eventually finished eighth.
“I think it’s quite telling, the sarcasm of the messages, and how upset Lewis is,” Sky Sports F1 pundit Brundle said.
“He’d have been really frustrated in that race, 23 laps behind Esteban Ocon in the customer Ferrari with 300 people in the factory.
“Trying to get past Ocon’s Haas, that’s not where Lewis expected to be this year, so I’d imagine his mood wasn’t too good.”
Aside from his sprint win in China, Hamilton has not finished higher than fifth and is currently seventh in the drivers’ standings, 90 points off championship leader Oscar Piastri after just six rounds.
Ferrari are expected to bring an upgrade to the next race in Imola – a de facto home grand prix for the Italian team – and Brundle urged the Ferrari hierarchy to keep the faith with the current management, including team principal Fred Vasseur.
“Of course, they’re going to be super unhappy at Ferrari,” Brundle said.
“They expect to be contenders for the championship, especially with a line-up of Leclerc and Hamilton.
“What they mustn’t do is behave like a football team and fire the manager, fire everybody, and change for the sake of change. That won’t improve anything at all. We have seen teams make that mistake.
“They were the fifth-fastest team, and that’s really a big issue. They’ve got to understand that. If they could change the car, they would, if they knew what to do with it. There will be some heavy conversations at Ferrari, there has to be.”
F1 heads to the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix (16-18 May) for round seven of the 2025 season next week.
